Random set of the day: The End Portal
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 21124 The End Portal, released during 2016. It's one of 8 Minecraft sets produced that year. It contains 559 pieces and 3 minifigs, and its retail price was US$59.99 / £54.99, which equates to about US$80 / £74 in today's money.
It's owned by 2,068 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you should find it for sale at Brick Owl, BrickLink, where new ones sell for around $184.40, or eBay.
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16 comments on this article
I know it would be a whole lot more parts extensive, but even as someone that doesn't play Minecraft, it has always bugged me that the LEGO Sets never added the extra plates necessary to make the perfect cubes of the game, and there is an inconsistency found throughout this set of 5 plate tall blocks and 4 plate tall blocks. That must drive Minecraft fans crazy, right?
@MCLegoboy said:
"I know it would be a whole lot more parts extensive, but even as someone that doesn't play Minecraft, it has always bugged me that the LEGO Sets never added the extra plates necessary to make the perfect cubes of the game, and there is an inconsistency found throughout this set of 5 plate tall blocks and 4 plate tall blocks. That must drive Minecraft fans crazy, right?"
As a Minecraft fan, it drove me a little crazy at the beginning. I kinda got used to it, though, and if the scaling bothered me enough I'd just MOC something up in the correct scale to replace it.
It's interesting to me how much Minecraft sets gain in value. I don't see any unique parts that are retired, but I could be wrong about that.
Edit: maybe the tiny 1x1 prints on the portal?
@MCLegoboy said:
"I know it would be a whole lot more parts extensive, but even as someone that doesn't play Minecraft, it has always bugged me that the LEGO Sets never added the extra plates necessary to make the perfect cubes of the game, and there is an inconsistency found throughout this set of 5 plate tall blocks and 4 plate tall blocks. That must drive Minecraft fans crazy, right?"
I've been into Lego for a lot longer than I've been into Minecraft, and Lego and scale have never been on speaking terms. I actually looked once, and if you calculate using a minifig as your base reference, the blocks should be 3x3x3, not 2x2x2. And that's not doable (short of a bunch of new molds), so it doesn't bother me.
Kinda quick Lore, sorta, I'm tired.
In Minecraft the "ending" of the game involves you traveling to the End Dimension to fight the Ender Dragon. In order to do this you have to find long abandoned Dungeon Strongholds deep underground and reactivate the portal by filling it with Eyes of Ender.
How you get Eyes of Ender varies a bit based on game. In the base Minecraft you need to kill Endermen for Ender Pearls and Blazes for Blaze Rods, then combine those to create the Eyes which will guide you to the Stronghold. In Dungeons the Stronghold is marked on your map and you have to find the hidden Endersent minibosses in secret areas of the other levels who straight up drop the Eyes.
What exactly the End is is purposefully vague and up for interpretation. Long story short something about eldritch force of destruction and nothingness slowly eating away at all of reality. The Ender Dragons in particular appear to have been hunted to near extinction and Jean, who guards the exit to the Dimension, is the last of her kind. Entities like the Heart of Ender and Eyes of Ender existing imply there was once some god or force known as Ender who was split into pieces, but how many of these and what they were like before the split is unknown.
Okay but the way they’ve done those bars on the window is just funny, though I think I’d go a bit mad trying to make sure all those handle pieces aligned
For being “The End”, they sure do keep reprising this setting a lot. They should take a lesson from The Doors, who only did “The End” one time.
The Minecraft sets were never really marketed or stocked very well in toy shops or supermarkets, which is a shame as there were some interesting sets around this time like the village 21128 , fortress 21127 and jungle tree house 21125. Looking forward to these being RSOD.
Ten years ago, original retail price was $59 or $80 today. In ten years I haven't seen my income escalate the same. I need to lie down.
what they can do to make this set better: add a silverfish spawner, make the cave spider a regular spider,(also they could make a mini version to add a lot more rooms to the stronghold), maybye make those bookshelves taller, more cobwebs.
this comes from a minecraft player so not everyone will agree with me
Additional lore (to supplement @GSR_MataNui):
Dungeon Strongholds are mazelike and contain libraries (the nougat blocks) where you can find books with useful enchantments to apply to your gear, choked with webs (the white octagonal frame). (Webs can be placed as traps to delay hostile mobs, among other uses.) They also contain prison cells with iron bars (the stacked bley taps). Strongholds tend to be filled with hostile mobs, such as spiders (shown), zombies and creepers (common in other sets), and possibly Endermen...
...although Endermen are ubiquitous and unavoidable once you reach the End (see 21117, 21151). Endermen can teleport, are neutral unless provoked (by making sustained eye contact), and are known for removing random blocks, sometimes from your constructions. Endermen are three blocks tall, so do not spawn in two-block passages, and are easy to slay from the safety of a two-block space.
In the chamber containing the End Gate, the blocks are often infested by Silverfish, a small and fast hostile mob, which can be stopped by breaking their Spawner block (neither depicted herein).
Because the Dungeon Stronghold is buried (unlike Caves, which often open onto the surface; Mineshafts, which commonly intersect caves; and certain other structures) and rare, you find it by tossing an Eye of Ender in the air and following where it leads. Ender Pearls are a loot drop from Endermen (as noted above), but may also be found in Shipwrecks and buried treasure chests.
@Brickalili said:
"Okay but the way they’ve done those bars on the window is just funny, though I think I’d go a bit mad trying to make sure all those handle pieces aligned"
Just stack them, then before you place the stack on the model, lay it on a flat surface and press down.
@ambr said:"The Minecraft sets were never really marketed or stocked very well in toy shops or supermarkets, which is a shame as there were some interesting sets around this time like the village 21128 , fortress 21127 and jungle tree house 21125. Looking forward to these being RSOD."
I'm still sad that 21115 wasn't the first Minecraft RSotD.
Time for a remake :D
I have this one! I bought nearly all of the Minecraft sets from 2014-2016
@lordofdragonss said:
"Time for a remake :D"
Well, there's 21584, which isn't as impressive, but it does have a neat function.
Just a few days ago the youtuber Cheesystudios made a video about all the sets from Minecraft from that year, including this one. Apparently it has a function that makes lava or the black portal appear at the bottom by sliding it in and out. It's also cool that it has the different rooms from the structure, and that it is currently the only depiction of the structure.